FTSE 100 and Wall Street strike an upbeat tone to start the week April 26, 2021 Soaring copper prices and hopes of a summer holiday pushed the FTSE 100 to close higher on Monday while Wall Street rose ahead of a busy week for big tech earnings. London’s blue-chip index came under pressure this morning due to a stronger pound and weaker oil prices. However comments made by Ursula von der [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot (video) April 26, 2021 Since early April, US equity markets have been in a persistent uptrend. That’s been is aided and abetted by (i) notable US dollar weakness; (ii) lower bond yields (resulting in tech outperformance); and (iii) a strong Q1 earnings season, with most US companies surprising markets to the upside. In that respect, and while US equity indices [...]
Peter Harrison: The City must back Sunak’s vision for the stock market April 26, 2021 | City Talk The relationship between the stock market and the economy is fundamental to any nation’s wealth. Without the effective channelling of capital to the best businesses, all suffer. For decades, London has been a world-leading financial hub, but now its future is less certain. First, consider an example of its success. Exactly 20 years ago, a [...]
Economy shows green shoots of recovery as dividends fall at slowest rate in a year April 26, 2021 UK dividends fell at their slowest rate in the first quarter in an encouraging sign the economy is starting to recover from the worst of the pandemic. Payouts fell 26.7 per cent to £12.7bn in the first quarter year-on-year, according to Link Group’s latest Dividend Monitor. Since the nearly 50 per cent drop in payments [...]
UK set for ‘very rapid growth’ over next quarters, says BoE’s Broadbent April 25, 2021 Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent said that the UK would see “very rapid growth” over the next couple of quarters as people rush to spend after lockdown. In an interview with the Telegraph, he said that the economy would see a boost simply from people saving less after the pandemic, let alone spending [...]
Why the going is about to get tougher for investing in climate change April 23, 2021 | City Talk 2020 was an extraordinary year for climate change action. Public opinion, governments, businesses and financial markets all had major shifts in their appreciation of the urgent need to address the climate crisis. More investment, research and development, and international collaboration will now come together to enable a faster transition to a net zero economy. While [...]
Public sector borrowing surges to record high April 23, 2021 Public sector borrowing surged to a record high in the past year after a huge rise in spending and tax cuts amid the pandemic. The UK Government borrowed £303.1bn in the last year, an increase of £246bn on the previous year, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). As a ratio of [...]
Government leaking Covid economic policy erodes public trust, think tank warns April 23, 2021 Treasury’s leaking of Covid-19 recovery policies to some media outlets weeks in advance, while keeping tight lipped on important details, risks eroding public trust, a leading economic think tank has warned. A new report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the current method has led to serious fiscal failures and [...]
Hedge fund Odey takes short position against Deliveroo after disastrous IPO April 22, 2021 Odey Asset Management has taken a short position against Deliveroo after a disastrous start to the delivery firm’s London IPO. Odey fund managers James Hanbury and Jamie Grimston took the bet on Deliveroo’s first day of trading, according to investor documents seen by the Financial Times. Deliveroo made its debut on 31 March with a [...]
Canadian semiconductor firm Alphawave plans $4.5bn London IPO April 22, 2021 Toronto-based Alphawave is planning a London listing after setting a valuation of $4.5bn from cornerstone investors. The company is just four years old and develops technology that pushes data through data centres and phone networks. Alphawave said funds and accounts managed by Blackrock and Janus Henderson have entered agreements to subscribe $510m of offer shares [...]